Device for the embossing and satining of flat materials

ABSTRACT

The device for the satining and embossing of innerliners for tobacco, food and pharmaceutical products, comprises a roll with a pin up configuration of the teeth and a roll with a pin down configuration of corresponding recesses. At only one of the rolls the part corresponding to the logo has been worked on to form the logo, whereas the recesses, respectively the teeth, on the other roll have not been altered in their shape. This allows a lower cost production of the rolls since no matching pairs of rolls have to be produced and exchanged for wear or changing logo.

The present invention refers to a device for the embossing and satining of flat materials according to the preamble of claim 1.

Embossing and satining logos with the pin up—pin down configuration, e.g. according to FIG. 1, is known and has the advantage of enabling to produce sharp and correct logos. The term “logo” encompasses all signs, decorative elements and/or identification marks embossed by the rolls, and the term “innerliner” encompasses all kind of foils comprising laminated sheets of aluminum, paper or plastic material sheets which in general are provided with sputtered metal or a film of metal, in particular aluminum. Such innerliners are used for tobacco products like cigarettes, food products like chocolate, butter, or chewing gum, or pharmaceutical products like pills or other drugs.

Prior art embossing rolls have three different zones, namely the satining zone, the logo embossing zone where the metallized part of the innerliner is not satined and remains glossy, whereby this part can be left as such or be worked, and the adjustment zone. According to the quality of the innerliners, the requested precision of the embossing and satining and embossing speed the rolls are supported in expensive bearings and frames. The wear of the rolls and the change of the logo compel to stop the production process, to dismount the relatively heavy housing, to exchange and readjust the rolls and to start anew the embossing process.

The prior art pin up—pin down rolls with a logo are produced in pairs, wherein e.g. first the pin up roll, which is the driving roll, is produced and the logo manufactured thereon. Normally the roll is hardened and is employed for forming the counter roll, that is e.g. the pin down roll.

This roll is the exact counter part of the first roll, see FIG. 1. This means that

-   -   a) in the case different logos are to be embossed, different         pairs of rolls must be produced, and     -   b) in the case one of the rolls is worn, both rolls must be         exchanged, even if one roll might have less wear than the other         roll.

For the prior art logo embossing method using a pin up—pin down configuration, e.g. according to FIG. 3, both rolls must be provided with one or several adjusting means since the logo part at the pin down roll is raised relative to the bottoms of the recesses, so that the matching of this logo part with the logo part on the other roll is very critical. Therefore, the rolls might be provided with different kind of further coarser teeth or rings for the adjustment in the mounting phase, that means before beginning of the operation, together with a synchronizing gear which must be adjusted or aligned also.

In consequence, the production of the pairs of rolls is very cost intensive enhanced by the fact that the rolls must be exchanged by pairs and that each change of the logo means the exchange of the pair of rolls.

Based on this prior art, it is a first object of the invention to provide for a device for satining and embossing innerliners using the pin up—pin down configuration with much lower production costs of the rolls, where it is not necessary to produce the rolls in pairs and therefore there is no need to replace both rolls together, be it for reasons of wear or for changing the logo. This object is attained with a device according to claim 1.

It is a second object of this invention to provide for a satining and embossing device with a pin up—pin down configuration with enhanced logo embossing capacity. This object is attained with a satining and embossing device according to claim 3.

The invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings of embodiments thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a portion of a prior art pin up roll and a pin down roll, each with a part of the logo to be embossed,

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged section of the engaged rolls of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows schematically a section of two engaged rolls of the prior art with adjustment means and the parts for the logo embossing,

FIG. 4 shows schematically a section of two engaged rolls according to the invention with the logo part on one roll and the unaltered logo area on the other roll for the logo embossing,

FIG. 4A shows a portion of a pin up roll and a pin down roll according to the invention, one roll having a part bearing the logo to be embossed and the other roll having an unaltered logo area,

FIGS. 5-8 show four variants of the solution according to FIG. 4 of the part and area for the logo embossing, and

FIGS. 9-11 show further variants to the embodiment of FIG. 4.

FIG. 1 shows a portion of a pin up roll 1 with individual teeth 2, which in this case are pyramidal with a flattened top, and a portion of a prior art pin down roll 3 with recesses 4 corresponding to the teeth 2. One tooth 2 matches one recess 4 respectively. Rolls 1 and 3 show further the two parts L1, resp. L3 for embossing a logo in the form of a “L” according to the prior art. The arrows 5, 6 point to a marking for easier mutual adjustment of the rolls and the logo zone when mounting them.

FIG. 2 shows the meshing of the teeth 2 with the recesses 4 and the innerliner 7 between, the innerliner being composed of a paper substrate 8 and a metallic film 9, which can be aluminum. In the portion shown in FIG. 2 the innerliner is satined.

In the FIGS. 3-8, except FIG. 4A, the teeth are shown only schematically, meaning that they can have any shape, for example four sided pyramidal, cone shaped etc. The pin up roll with the outstanding teeth is always shown at the bottom, whereas the pin down roll with the corresponding recesses is therefore shown on the top.

FIG. 3 shows a prior art pair of embossing rolls in the pin up—pin down configuration with the mentioned three zones, which zones are located complementary at the pin up roll 10 and at the pin down roll 11. Each of the rolls may be the driving roll, depending on which side the machine drive is provided.

Zone Z1 is the pin up—pin down satining zone, where the teeth and recesses are unaltered. Zone Z2 defines the logo zone, meaning in FIG. 3 the logo parts where the logo has been engraved or otherwise manufactured on both rolls, or in FIGS. 4-8, the logo part on one roll where the logo has been engraved or otherwise manufactured and the corresponding logo area on the other roll, where the shape of the teeth has not been altered.

Zone Z3 defines the zone with the adjustment means and comprises in general an adjustment ring 12, 13 either on one or on both ends of the rolls and adjustment teeth 14, 15, which are coarser teeth than for satining. The rolls are first adjusted in the mounting phase with the aid of the adjustment ring(s) and then with the aid of the adjustment teeth. Both adjustment means allow the precise adjustment of the two matching logo parts before operation.

According to FIG. 3 the pin down roll 11 is synchronized with the driving roll 10 by gearwheels 16 and 17, representing synchronizing means including other synchronizing elements which are known per se.

According to a new method of producing a pin down roll made of relatively soft material like rubber or temperature stable plastic material, the hardened pin up roll is pressed upon the roll to become the pin down roll until the recesses are formed. The further use of such pin down rolls is the same as for metal pin down rolls. This method can also be inverted in that a hardened pin down roll is pressed against a roll of relatively soft material like rubber or temperature stable plastic material until the outstanding pin up teeth are formed on the now pin up roll. The further use of such pin up rolls is the same as for metal pin up rolls.

FIGS. 4 and 4A show a first embodiment of the invention. The driving pin up roll 18 and pin down roll 19 comprise the two zones Z1 and Z2, whereby pin down roll 19 is provided with unaltered recesses 4 only. It follows from the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 4A that it is possible to emboss logos in the pin up—pin down configuration with the driving roll only having the logo in zone 2, whereas the counter roll, driven by the other roll, has only the unaltered recesses 4.

The inverse case is also possible, wherein only the pin down roll, which can be the driving one, has the logo zone, whereby the counter roll is the pin up roll having unaltered teeth only.

For producing the rolls it is advantageous to produce two pin up rolls, one of it serving as master roll for forming pin down rolls, whose recesses are not altered in the form, and to work on the second pin up roll the parts for forming the logo.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 the rolls have no adjustment zone Z3 and there are no synchronizing gearwheels or other synchronizing means. This has the consequence that

-   -   a) the production of the rolls is much simplified in that only         one roll has the logo and the counter roll only recesses or         teeth with an unaltered shape, and therefore no matching paired         production of the rolls is needed,     -   b) the rolls need no adjustment zone Z3 with the adjustment         teeth and the adjustment rings,     -   c) only the worn roll must be exchanged, not the pair of rolls,     -   d) it is possible to design a series of rolls with different         logos, so that these logo rolls can easily be exchanged, while         the counter roll remains unexchanged.

The easy exchange of rolls, in pairs or one roll alone, can be effectuated with the means according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,998 to the same applicant.

The FIGS. 5-8 show variants of the embodiment of FIG. 4 for embossing special effects. If special effects are desired, it is possible to either enhance the appearance of the logo by adding a pressure on the area of the logo and/or to work the surface of the logo for adding effects on its non-satined surface like decorations or identification marks like holograms or an appearance which changes with the viewing angle, and many other aspects.

In FIG. 5 a metallic layer 20 has been applied on the logo area of the counter roll 19, which layer has been applied for example by CVD, sputtering or other means and which can have a non-worked or a worked surface with decorations or identifying means marks.

In FIG. 6, a metallic layer 21, similar to metallic layer 20, has been applied on the logo on the pin up roll 18, resp. driving roll, and in FIG. 7 a metallic layer 20, 21 is applied on the logo on one roll as well as on the logo area of the other roll. In FIG. 8 a metallic layer 22 is applied on some of the teeth and recesses of zone Z1, outside the logo zone Z2, for embossing there a mark. By these coating treatments, the shape of the recesses or of the teeth is not altered, only a thin metallic layer is added thereon.

It is of course possible, for certain applications, to utilize one or the other or both of the adjustment means of zone Z3, see FIG. 9, as well as the synchronizing gearwheels or any other synchronizing means, together with the adjustment means, see FIG. 11, or not, see FIG. 10. Even in such cases the advantage over the prior art remains that one of the rolls needs no logo part and that it is not necessary to produce the rolls as pairs. 

1-9. (canceled)
 10. A device for the satining and embossing of flat materials, in particular innerliners, for tobacco, food and pharmaceutical products, comprising: a roll with a pin up configuration of the teeth; and a further roll with a pin down configuration of corresponding recesses, wherein: on only one of the rolls the part corresponding to the logo has been worked on to form the logo, whereas the recesses, respectively the teeth, on the other roll have not been altered in their shape.
 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein: both rolls comprise a zone with satining teeth, respectively recesses, and one of the rolls comprises a further zone with the parts for embossing a logo.
 12. The device according to claim 10, wherein: said further zone is provided with a metallic layer.
 13. The device according to claim 10, wherein: said further zone and the area on the other roll corresponding to the logo is provided with a metallic layer.
 14. The device according to claim 10, wherein: said zone is partly provided with a metallic layer.
 15. The device according to claim 10, wherein: both rolls are provided with adjustment means in the mounting phase.
 16. The device according to claim 10, wherein: both rolls are provided with synchronizing means.
 17. A device for the satining and embossing of innerliners, in particular for tobacco, food and pharmaceutical products, comprising: a roll with a pin up configuration of the teeth; and a further roll with a pin down configuration of corresponding recesses, wherein: at only one of the rolls a part corresponding to a logo has been worked on to form the logo, whereas the recesses, respectively the teeth, on the other roll have not been altered in their shape.
 18. A device for the satining and embossing of innerliners, in particular for tobacco, food and pharmaceutical products, comprising: a roll with a pin up configuration of the teeth; and a further roll with a pin down configuration of corresponding recesses, wherein: at least at one of the rolls the part corresponding to a logo is provided with a metallic layer. 